rneil95

After taking a year off after the release of "Thunderball," James Bond returned to the silver screen, this time with Lewis Gilbert taking the helm as director. Following four solid movies had to be tough, and while "Thunderball" wasn't as great as the first three films, it never made any serious missteps. But, it was bound to happen sometime, and with "You Only Live Twice," that time has come. To be fair, it's not a bad film, and there is some really great stuff in here. Some of the content of the film could be considered iconic, but there's a lot of weak stuff that bogs it down.

After a bizarre opening set in space, we get MI6 orchestrating a scenario in which Bond fakes his own death to turn the attention of SPECTRE away while he investigates the disappearances of U.S. and Soviet spacecrafts. The film plays a lot on the Cold War tensions of the time, as previous films have, but once again, SPECTRE is pulling the strings and Bond is dispatched to Japan to find out what they're planning. Based on the premise alone, this is definitely already treaded ground, and there's only so much they can do to avoid feeling like it's just "been here, done that."

The biggest problem with this movie is the characters. Nearly everyone is forgettable here. The henchmen, allies, Bond women, none of them really leave any notable impact. The exception to this, however, is the brilliant Donald Pleasance as the often heard, but never seen Ernst Stavro Blofeld. This is an iconic villain performance that stands out as one of the best in the series. His unforgettable look, sinister delivery, and cold menace allow for a really great villain, but he is sorely underused. It's a testament to his performance, though, that he managed to be the standout given how little he is actually shown on film.

The other star of this film, for me, is production designer Ken Adam. His volcano lair set is probably the pinnacle of his accomplishments, giving us the ultimate evil hideout. As a matter of fact, once the film makes it to the volcano lair scenes onward, it's much better. That being said, it takes quite a while for the film to get to that point. The plot meanders about for quite a while, and Sean Connery isn't doing us any favors here. He seems bored, clearly having no further interest in doing Bond films for any other reason than for the paycheck. His heart's not in it, and that definitely leaves the viewer with a sense of apathy while watching it.

I don't think "You Only Live Twice" is a bad film, in fact the good aspects of it are really quite good. It just feels like nobody was really invested in it this time around, except for Pleasance and Adam. I really want to like this film, I really do. I just don't think it has all that much going for it, not adding anything new to the formula, but at the same time not doing the formula as well as it could be done. I don't hate it, but I don't love it either. It's just not particularly memorable.

By the time "Thunderball" came out, Bond-mania was all over the world. People were clamoring for it, and the formula had already been established by the time this fourth film was released. Notable for the legal disputes behind the scenes, the film is again based on the Ian Fleming novel of the same name, with creative help from Kevin McClory. Terence Young returns to the director's chair for a final time after being absent for "Goldfinger. When "Thunderball" hit theaters, James Bond was a global phenomenon, and it doesn't really stray from the formula all that much.

The film retains the idea of an unrelated action sequence before the credits, and it's easily the best part. The action in this opening scene is intense, and a number of really cool gadgets are put on display, like the jetpack, and the iconic Aston Martin makes a grand return. It's a bombastic, explosive action sequence that really stands out amongst the rest of the film.

From there, we turn to the main plot of the film, which involves SPECTRE threatening the US and the UK with nuclear destruction in exchange for money, and Bond is sent to the Bahamas to investigate. The plot takes a while to get going at first, but once Bond leaves the health clinic he spends the first half hour or so at, things really pick up. You get the feel right away that the stakes are higher this time around, especially through the MI6 scenes. Once he arrives in the Bahamas, things pick up a lot. Adolfo Celi as Largo makes for formidable villain, particularly when going toe to toe with Bond. Their verbal battles make for some of the best scenes in the film. We also get two Bond girls this time around, a heroine named Domino (Claudine Auger), and a villainess named Fiona (Luciana Paluzzi). Both make for pretty memorable characters, and it is refreshing to see two independent females, a rarity in these early films. However, some of the violence against women depicted in the film gets rather uncomfortable.

The biggest issue I take with the film is the fact that so much of it takes place underwater. The underwater photography is well done, and was groundbreaking for the time, but it feels incredibly labored now. The action feels lethargic, like watching a fight scene at half speed. There's also no dialogue going on underwater, so these scuba sequences just feel rather dull now. These sequences are a bit of a chore to sit through by today's standards, making the whole film lose its momentum in the climax.

All in all, "Thunderball" is not a bad film by any stretch of the imagination. In many ways, it retains a lot of what made the previous films so good. There are tons of great, iconic moments here, but it drags a lot due to the underwater sequences. It also has its fair share of really goofy moments, losing a lot of the seriousness of previous films. That being said, it's still got a lot of good. Tom Jones' title theme is great, there is a lot of fun to be had from lots of the action, but when stood up against its predecessors, it just sort of blends in. It's relatively standard Bond fare, one that I could easily throw on TV and watch once in a while, not the greatest but still worth checking out.

If "Dr. No" established the formula, and "From Russia with Love" improved it, then "Goldfinger" perfected it! This third film in the franchise is often the first one people think of when they think of James Bond. It's got everything you could want from a Bond film, it's got the action, the women, the gadgets, the villain, every finite detail of the formula is perfected here. This time around, the film is directed by Guy Hamilton, who does a fantastic job in retaining the style of the series, even though it's not as serious as "From Russia with Love."

The film opens with a high-octane bit of action to set the tone for the rest of the film. It's an unrelated mission with no ties to the rest of the plot, but it's great in the way it establishes Bond's character immediately, dropping you right in on the action. It's a great way to set up these films in the pre-credit sequence, which then leads into one of the most well-known Bond title songs, Shirley Bassey's "Goldfinger," and deservedly so. It's one of the coolest openings to a film, establishing everything you need to know about what to expect for the rest of the movie.

From there, the film's main plot kicks in, with Bond investigating the criminal activities of a man named Auric Goldfinger (Gert Fröbe), a man plotting to upset the world economy by contaminating the gold supply at Fort Knox. As I've said before, this film has everything you could want from a Bond film. Goldfinger is a brilliantly maniacal villain, and he plays off Connery brilliantly. Honor Blackman's Pussy Galore is one of the most memorable Bond girls, even if her character can come across as sexist. Blackman still does a great job in spite of some of these more uncomfortable scenes, and holds her own against the rest of the cast. We also get the classic MI6 scenes with Bernard Lee's M and Lois Maxwell's Moneypenny, as well as our first proper Q branch scene, with Desmond Llewelyn's Q presenting the assortment of gadgets that Bond would use, most notably the tricked out Aston Martin DB5 that has since become THE car associated with the series, and deservedly so. It's beautiful, and the way Bond makes use of the gadgets are so much fun.

This film also has what is probably Sean Connery's best performance as Bond. All the qualities he's established in the prior films are still there, but his suave swagger is perfected here. The standout moment of the film for me is the laser sequence, with the classic lines: "Do you expect me to talk?" "No, Mr. Bond, I expect you to die!" Even though this sequence has been parodied to death, it hasn't lost any of its intensity, and that's really down to Connery's performance. It doesn't happen often, but in this moment, Bond shows fear, and that's what elevates this performance. His uncertainty in this situation makes Connery's Bond feel genuine, giving a certain level of humanity to the role. We also get another great fight sequence at the end of the film, this time between Bond and the mute henchman Oddjob (Harold Sakata) in Fort Knox. It's a great fight scene, equaling the fight between Bond and Red Grant in "From Russia with Love."

It's hard to find things to say about "Goldfinger" that haven't already been said. It's the most iconic James Bond film, and with good reason. If you were to introduce someone new to the franchise, someone who wasn't familiar with Bond, this would probably be the film you'd show them. It covers so much ground in terms of defining what Bond is, and does it all so well. The action, the characters, the plot, the memorable gadgets, it's the definitive Bond film in nearly every way.